Food for thought

This section contains some books and ideas that have inspired me. Many of the key ideas have been embedded into my programs and the work with clients.

LEADERSHIP

The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

A true classic on Leadership: evidence-based, practical, impactful. If you are looking to read only one book on leadership, this is the one I would recommend for its almost universal applicability - from schools to small business to large enterprise.LINK

Richard Boyatzis' work is best known through his co-operation with Daniel Goleman ("Primal Leadership"). Resonant Leadership is a favorite of mine as it integrates three key elements: Mindfulness, Hope and Compassion. Boyatzis and McKee show how these elements have relevant implications for leadership, how they enable leaders to overcome the sacrifice syndrome and how to create real resonance with the teams and individuals they lead and thereby impact the bottom line!LINK

Authentic Leadership by Bill George

HBS Professor and former Medtronic-CEO Bill George describes how he has discovered mindfulness and how it enabled him to improve in his role. Slowing down to be faster and better, not just faster!LINK

Snakes in suits by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare

One of the first larger bodies of work on the negative effects of narcissistic behavior in organizations. Still too little is known about the long-term negative effects as the short term rewards of this behavior are just too tempting...LINK

There is not much to add or comment on Leading Change, as it is a true classic.In ACCELERATE! Kotter expands his change leadership framework by introducing the idea of implementing a "dual-operating system" for organizations. Not all established organization can operate as a start-up does, neither should they. Kotter shows a way how organizations can reap the rewards and benefits of a start-up organization while maintaining the useful elements of more traditional organizations, i.e. functional, matrix etc. .

Immunity to change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey

An excellent guide to understand the internal and external obstacles to implementing change. There are many change efforts that fail as a result of being under-led and over-managed. "Immunity to change" shows some ways as to how we might overcome these obstacles.

Mindfulness / Compassion

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

Very few works have touched me as much as Brené Brown's work on vulnerability. The areas where we are the most vulnerable and the areas of our personalities that we keep hidden from others are the exact same areas that enable joy and satisfaction in our lives. So we need to face our own vulnerabilities in order to fully experience joy and satisfaction in our worklives and persoal lives. A fun read with profound implications. The quote of Theodore Roosevelt about the "man in the arena" is an impressive leadership lesson in itself. We need more "men (and women!) in the arenas" of our organizations and less critics sitting on the sidelines!

Full Catastrophy Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

The book that has led me to give mindfulness practice a try. Still a very inspiring work by Jon Kabat-Zinn. There are many interesting talks by Jon available on Youtube. Google Tech Talks are a good place to start.

Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff

In her pioneering work on self-compassion Kristin Neff shows how mindfulness and self-compassion are a powerful antidote to self-criticism and self-inflicted pressures that ultimately lead to unhappiness, fatigue and burn-out. Kristin has been developing the MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion) program together with Christopher Germer.

The mindful way to Self-Compassion by Christopher Germer

Chris Germer's "mindful way to self-compassion" shows how individuals can free themselves from destructive thoughts and feelings. I have recommended Chris' book to many sceptics of mindfulness and self-compassion. The fact-based approach and the many references to cutting-edge research on the topic appeal to sceptics as well as individuals more open to mindfulness practice.